• U.S. pulls nonessential embassy staff from Iraq amid Mideast tensions

    U.S. pulls nonessential embassy staff from Iraq amid Mideast tensions

    May 15, 2019 03:35 PM EDT

    ... the U.S.-backed coalition fighting the Islamic State group. He said Tuesday that "there's been no increased threat from Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria." Later, in a rare public rebuttal of an allied military officer, U.S. Central Command said Ghika's remarks "run counter to ...

  • Secretary of State Pompeo makes unannounced visit to Iraq

    Secretary of State Pompeo makes unannounced visit to Iraq

    May 07, 2019 09:21 PM EDT

    ... would make the point in his meetings in Baghdad that any attack by Iran or its proxies on American forces in Iraq would affect the Iraqi government too. The "campaign to continue to prevent ISIS terror inside of Iraq itself is something that's very central ... to the Iraqi government ...

  • WATCH: Trump awards Medal of Honor to Iraq War hero's family

    WATCH: Trump awards Medal of Honor to Iraq War hero's family

    Mar 27, 2019 12:58 PM EDT

    ... Vietnam and war in Afghanistan, including two posthumous honors. Wednesday's award will be the first Trump gives to a service member who fought in Iraq. Presidents often get credit for putting the medal and its familiar blue ribbon on living recipients, but they have little say in who ultimately ...

  • News Wrap: Dozens die when ferry capsizes in northern Iraq

    News Wrap: Dozens die when ferry capsizes in northern Iraq

    Mar 21, 2019 10:52 PM EDT

    In our news wrap Thursday, at least 94 people died after an overcrowded ferry sank in northern Iraq. Passengers were celebrating Kurdish holidays when the vessel capsized in the Tigris River near Mosul, where heavy rains and snowmelt fed a strong current. Also, the government of New Zealand banned sales of military-style semi-automatic guns and...

  • Overloaded ferry sinks in Tigris near Iraq's Mosul, killing at least 83

    Overloaded ferry sinks in Tigris near Iraq's Mosul, killing at least 83

    Mar 21, 2019 02:21 PM EDT

    ... he jumped in the water and managed to save a 20-year-old girl. "I cannot describe the scene, it's a catastrophe," he said. Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi ordered an investigation and, according to Iraqi TV, arrived in Mosul later Thursday. The TV said nine workers operating ...

  • First time in Baghdad: Iran’s president to visit Iraq

    First time in Baghdad: Iran’s president to visit Iraq

    Mar 10, 2019 04:48 PM EDT

    ... and Iraq’s Shiite led-government, a strong Tehran ally. It is also Iran’s response to President Donald Trump’s snap December trip to Iraq and the American president’s comments that U.S. forces should stay in Iraq to keep an eye on neighboring Iran, with which Iraq ...

  • More than 150 Islamic State militants handed over to Iraq from Syria

    More than 150 Islamic State militants handed over to Iraq from Syria

    Feb 21, 2019 02:41 PM EDT

    ... River, signaling an imminent end to the territorial rule of the militants self-declared "caliphate" that once stretched across a third of both Syria and Iraq. Some 300 IS militants, along with hundreds of civilians believed to be mostly their families, have been under siege for more than a week ...

  • How Trump's remarks on Iran strain U.S.'s welcome in Iraq

    How Trump's remarks on Iran strain U.S.'s welcome in Iraq

    Feb 05, 2019 11:25 PM EDT

    ... s Iraq Initiative and recently met with President Salih. Kadhim says, thanks to President Trump's statement, Iran's powerful allies can now use the Iraqi constitution to argue against a U.S. presence, because it requires Iraq to adhere to the principle of noninterference in the internal affairs of ...

  • News Wrap: Iraqi president objects to Trump's comments on monitoring Iran

    News Wrap: Iraqi president objects to Trump's comments on monitoring Iran

    Feb 04, 2019 11:55 PM EDT

    In our Monday news wrap, Iraqi President Barham Salih slammed President Trump for suggesting U.S. troops might stay in Iraq to monitor Iran, saying Iraq had not been consulted about the possibility and that U.S. troops are in Salih’s country solely to fight extremist groups. Meanwhile, leaders from 10 European Union states backed opposition leader...

  • Iraq’s war heroes feel forgotten after war with ISIS

    Iraq’s war heroes feel forgotten after war with ISIS

    Jan 19, 2019 10:31 PM EDT

    An estimated 30,000 Iraqis who joined security forces when Islamic State militants attacked their country in 2014 were injured in the war that persisted through 2017, in addition to thousands who lost their lives. And now, the survivors and families of those who died as well as wounded veterans ...